Fauna & Flora International » Elizabeth Allenhttp://www.fauna-flora.org
Fauna & Flora InternationalThu, 30 Jul 2015 16:09:02 +0000en-UShourly1The chronicles of Oryx: a history of conservation – part four (1934-1943)http://www.fauna-flora.org/the-chronicles-of-oryx-a-history-of-conservation-1934-1943/
http://www.fauna-flora.org/the-chronicles-of-oryx-a-history-of-conservation-1934-1943/#commentsTue, 07 May 2013 18:35:55 +0000http://www.fauna-flora.org/?p=4419In FFI’s fourth decade, the pages of its journal (which at that time was still known, rather grandly, as the Journal of the Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire) provide amazing insight into the events that were unfolding with the journal itself, the Society and the wider world in general.

Between 1934 and 1943 a number of features were introduced to the journal that are still present, in some form, in Oryx today. Conservation Notes, for example, is an early forerunner of the Conservation News and Briefly sections, although the focus now is global and ranges across animals, plants and international conservation issues. In the most recent issue of Oryx, for example, articles in the Briefly section covered topics from the monogamy of hawksbill turtles in the Seychelles to vampire bats nibbling the feet of penguin chicks in Peru’s Atacama Desert.

Another section that became a regular feature in the journal at this time was the book review section – one of my favourite sections in Oryx. Placed, as it is, at the end of the journal, it feels less formal than preceding parts of the journal. Where else, but in this section, could you find a quotation from The Matrix nestling up to a sentence from Shakespeare’s The Tempest?

The tone and subject of the articles published in the journal seems to have evolved during this decade. There are more articles looking at conservation in general, such as Wild Life Conservation (published in 1934) and The Conservation of Wildlife: Retrospect and Prospect (1937). There is also an increase in the number of articles being published about conservation in the UK – from discussions about the status of the polecat and pine marten in Britain in 1936 to some notes on British bats in 1943.

Despite ending on a myth-busting note (“Finally, bats do not fly into women’s hair”), the latter article doesn’t entirely dispel the air of mystery surrounding these denizens of the night; in particular the sentence describing the sound of the serotine bat is, to my mind, somewhat disturbing: “The only sound I have heard on the wing has been a high-pitched squeak of the sort dolls used to give in pre-Great War days.”

The aptly-named long-eared bat, taken from an article published in 1943.

A royal connection

In 1936, the Society received something of a prestige boost when The Prince of Wales (who had been patron of the Society since 1929) consented to remain in this role following his accession to the throne. We have been fortunate that every British monarch since then has consented to be the patron.

Interestingly, the issues of the Journal from 1936 make no reference to what must have been a notable event at the time: namely the abdication of Edward VIII after only a few months on the throne. Instead the journal merely published an announcement by the Executive Committee in 1937, stating that: “H.M. King George VI has been graciously pleased to grant his Patronage to the Society.”

Troubled times

The outbreak of the Second World War, however, made far more of an impact in the journal’s pages. Discussing plans for the next ‘International Fauna Conference’ in 1939, for example, the journal editor had this to say:

“Unfortunately every engagement in these troubled times must be regarded as provisional. The war clouds are still heavy and it would be foolish to be blind to the possibility that the assembly of this Conference, designed to further the conservation of Nature’s treasures for the benefit of future generations of mankind, may be prevented by a cataclysm of destruction, from which all mankind would suffer from generation to generation.

“But it would be equally foolish to let such fears and doubts deter us from planning good work. Nor should we lose our faith that such conferences as these, where men of many nations meet with the common aim of securing the common good, help to promote good feeling and sane relations between race and race.”

Keep calm and carry on, in other words.

Standing the test of time

One of the most striking items to feature in the journal during this decade is the mention of the Nigerian Field Society. This organisation features in a 1934 article about wildlife preservation in the northern provinces, in which it is credited (in part) with increasing the level of interest in conservation in Nigeria.

Established in 1930, the Nigerian Field Society has published its journal The Nigerian Field since 1931, making it one of the country’s oldest continuous publications. While The Nigerian Field has more of a regional focus than Oryx, both of these long-running journals provide space for researchers and conservationists to disseminate their findings.

Conservation journals like these are crucial repositories for knowledge, in which being published is just the start for an article. It might end up being used to inform policy or conservation practice, or contributing to the wealth of information on a particular species or habitat.

It may even end up being revisited, decades later, to provide insights into the historical context of a conservation issue.

Part five in this series (1944-1953) will be published at the end of May 2013. To browse through all material relating to FFI’s 110th Anniversary, visit our dedicated page.

]]>http://www.fauna-flora.org/the-chronicles-of-oryx-a-history-of-conservation-1934-1943/feed/0The chronicles of Oryx: a history of conservation – part three (1924-1933)http://www.fauna-flora.org/the-chronicles-of-oryx-a-history-of-conservation-1924-1933/
http://www.fauna-flora.org/the-chronicles-of-oryx-a-history-of-conservation-1924-1933/#commentsThu, 28 Mar 2013 15:23:28 +0000http://www.fauna-flora.org/?p=4273In its third decade, the Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire (as Fauna & Flora International was known at that time) underwent changes in the way it functioned, some of which relate to issues that are still pertinent today.

Chief among the Society’s developments between 1924 and 1933 was an increased emphasis on membership recruitment. In 1924 the membership stood at 48 honorary and 179 ordinary members, but by the end of the decade this had increased to 56 honorary, 86 life and 802 ordinary members.

Furthermore, the officers running the Society appeared far more aware of the value of membership as a measure of the organisation’s development, as the below diagram (published in the 1930 issue of the journal) shows.

Diagram showing membership growth, taken from the 1930 issue of the society's journal.

Exhortations to secure more members featured in the journal’s pages, including the use of social networks: “If each of our members could bring in just one recruit, our ideal would become a fact.”

Alongside membership, the journal itself also grew. Seen as “the main method of advising the public as to our activities,” three issues of the journal were published per year from 1930 onwards, instead of just one. As early as 1925, the scope of material that the journal would consider publishing was highlighted, as follows:

Call for articles, taken from an editorial notice in the 1925 issue of the journal.

Resonating through time

The Society itself also developed its own objectives, which were likewise published in the journal, during this decade. Again, these bear little resemblance to FFI’s current aim and mission; however, some elements of these objectives could be seen as forerunners to the way in which FFI operates today.

Most significantly, the objectives stipulate that “It is no part of the aim of the Society to preserve animal life at the expense of human industry or natural development.” This suggests an awareness of the complexities inherent in the relationship between conservation and people, and the importance of striving for a balance between interests.

Some articles published in the journal during these 10 years also resonate with FFI’s modern conservation work. A 1924 article entitled ‘The Australian Fauna’, for example, emphasises the importance of working with people to change attitudes towards conservation:

“Only education, and getting the people to love and value the birds and animals, can overcome this [that the average person is rather more inclined to destroy than to admire the wild things around him]. Hence we have one day every year, known as Bird Day, on which the subject has special mention in the primary schools. Many of the school children are moreover members of the Gould League of Bird Lovers.”

FFI’s turtle conservation work in Nicaragua (profiled in this short video by IUCN) is a great example of how real conservation successes can arise from helping people appreciate the beauty and wonder of nature.

The relationship between people and wild places is further explored in other articles published during this decade. An article from 1927, for instance, describes the proposed creation of a transboundary national park in the Tatra Mountains, located on the border of Poland and modern-day Slovakia. A significant aspect of this article is the description of how the park will be managed:

“In the higher altitudes, conservation will be absolute and access will only be permitted to the authorities, keepers and authorised guides and tourists. In the lower altitudes conservation will be partial and a certain amount of exploitation of timber, etc., will be permitted.”

The park didn’t gain protection until the 1940s, but is now designated as a Biosphere Reserve under UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Programme. This is particularly fitting as Biosphere Reserves are described by UNESCO as, “Places that seek to reconcile conservation of biological and cultural diversity and economic and social development through partnerships between people and nature.”

“Strange, unearthly shrieks”

This article, it seems to me, contains many elements that make it special. The opening paragraph describes the discovery of a strange bird outside someone’s door following a storm, and the subsequent invitation to a keen naturalist to come and inspect it. Following what sounds like much debate, and the examination of records and preserved skins, the bird is pronounced to be a female diablotin, or black-capped petrel. The local name of the bird means little devil, and it is so named because – like other members of the petrel family – the species is nocturnal at its breeding sites, and emits strange, unearthly shrieks.

Although this story ends unhappily for this particular diablotin, a footnote in the article explains that the species became protected by a Special Legislative Order two months after her discovery.

To me, this showcases what we still strive to achieve in articles published in Oryx today – a good story, with facts couched in evidence, but, most importantly, a lasting outcome for conservation.

Part four in this series (1934-1943) will be published at the end of April 2013. To browse through all material relating to FFI’s 110th Anniversary, visit our dedicated page.

]]>http://www.fauna-flora.org/the-chronicles-of-oryx-a-history-of-conservation-1924-1933/feed/0The chronicles of Oryx: a history of conservation – part two (1914-1923)http://www.fauna-flora.org/the-chronicles-of-oryx-a-history-of-conservation-1914-1923/
http://www.fauna-flora.org/the-chronicles-of-oryx-a-history-of-conservation-1914-1923/#commentsThu, 28 Feb 2013 18:20:51 +0000http://www.fauna-flora.org/?p=4173The years between 1914 and 1923 were quiet ones for the journal of the Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire, with nothing published between 1914 and 1921. One imagines that events in Europe occupied the minds of the Society’s members, particularly given the number of members with military connections.

The fate of the forest during the First World War mirrors the wider changes in this part of Europe at the start of the 20th century: In 1914 the forest belonged to Russia, but was occupied by German troops for a year and a half during the war, and subsequently – having “changed hands two or three times” – finally became part of Poland.

Count Bobrinskoy’s letter outlines his concern that the bison population was declining as a consequence of overhunting by both the German troops and local people. The Society agreed to send a letter to the Polish authorities to outline the importance of protecting this species. Today, the forest is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, replete with a sizeable bison population.

This consideration of the effects of war on a country’s wildlife and wild places is particularly interesting given FFI’s subsequent work in post-conflict areas, including Liberia, Aceh and Cambodia.

Shifting away from sport hunting

As seen in the first years of the journal’s existence, the issue of sport hunting continued to be a source of interest in the following decade. Interestingly though, an article by Abel Chapman published in 1922 about the white rhinoceros in Sudan, sounds a note of a more esoteric nature.

An extract from Chapman's article on white rhino, published in 1922.

Despite his apparent disdain for the species (describing the northern white rhino as “incredibly stupid in character”), the author regards the prospect of its extinction as a cause for concern.

Chapman berates the “barbarous and dishonouring record” that saw the rapid disappearance of a species previously “so abundant over the whole sub-continent that some [pioneers] seem to have shot them wholesale, as we go out to shoot rabbits.”

Looking outside Africa

Interest in conservation issues beyond Africa, the cradle of the Society’s origin, is scattered throughout the volumes published in this decade.

Graham Renshaw’s article on the extinct Réunion starling, in the 1922 volume, tells the story of a species that, like the white rhino, had been abundant in the not too distant past. The starling, native to the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, also apparently shared a similar trait with the white rhino, being described as “so stupid that it could easily be knocked down with a stick.”

A sketch of the Réunion starling, from Renshaw’s 1922 article.

Renshaw’s article opens with a statement about the uniqueness of island species, and the frequency with which these species go extinct.

This issue – of the extirpation of island endemics – remains the focus of much conservation work. In the case of the Réunion starling the cause of their extinction was, as Renshaw put it, “an ornithological mystery,” although he suspected that competition with an introduced species (myna birds) or overharvesting may have played a role.

Apportioning blame to the myna sounds plausible: this species is one of only three bird species to have made it onto the list of the 100 most invasive species, as drawn up by the Global Invasive Species Database.

In other instances, the reasons for the decline in island endemics are known before they go extinct, providing conservationists with the opportunity to intervene before it is too late.

Oryx (as FFI’s journal is known today) is one channel used by researchers to publicise their findings regarding species endemic to islands, often in the hope of supporting the work of practitioners to protect such species. Thus in 1991, a paper in Oryx raised the alarm about West Indian racers in the Western Antilles.

One of these snakes, the Critically Endangered Antiguan racer, became the focus of an FFI conservation project. Thanks to the eradication of invasive rats and mongooses from the islands on which it occurs, the racer has avoided the fate of the Réunion starling, and today numbers nearly 900.

Part three in this series (1924-1933) will be published at the end of March 2013. To browse through all material relating to FFI’s 110th Anniversary, visit our dedicated page.

]]>http://www.fauna-flora.org/the-chronicles-of-oryx-a-history-of-conservation-1914-1923/feed/0The chronicles of Oryx: a history of conservation – part one (1903-1913)http://www.fauna-flora.org/the-chronicles-of-oryx-a-history-of-conservation-1903-1913/
http://www.fauna-flora.org/the-chronicles-of-oryx-a-history-of-conservation-1903-1913/#commentsFri, 01 Feb 2013 10:53:28 +0000http://www.fauna-flora.org/?p=4094There’s a certain symmetry to be found when comparing the origins of Fauna & Flora International (FFI) in 1903 and the organisation’s conservation work in 2013, because at either end of this 110-year span lies conservation in Sudan.

Today, FFI works alongside the government of the world’s newest country, the Republic of South Sudan, to support the development of conservation in the country, but it was another proposed boundary change within Sudan that spurred FFI’s founders into action.

In 1903, a group of naturalists in Britain were alarmed to hear of plans to discard an excellent game reserve to the north of the Sobat River and substitute it with an inferior area to the south. As revealed in one of the first issues of FFI’s journal (then called The Journal of the Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire), the group believed the proposal posed grave risks to the game in the area.

An article on FFI's origins, from one of the first issues of its journal.

In a letter to the British Consul General in Egypt and the Governor General of Sudan, the group expressed their concerns that “if this change is made…in our opinion the disappearance of the game would be only a question of time.”

Furthermore they added that the remoteness and inaccessibility of the new area would make it hard to monitor, “thus the constitution of such an area as a reserve would be merely nominal, and would have no effect, one way or the other, on the preservation of the game.”

The upshot of their lobbying was not only the abandonment of the plans to fragment the reserve, but an increase in its protection. Buoyed by this success, the group decided that, “it seems desirable that those who have taken an interest in the matter should continue to act together.”

Following a meeting held on 11 December 1903 at the Natural History Museum in London, The Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire was born, aiming “to further the formation of game reserves or sanctuaries, the selection of the most suitable places, and the enforcing of suitable game laws and regulations.”

The cost of joining the Society in 1903 was 10 shillings per annum, specifically to cover the cost of printing. So, what did members of the Society get for their annual payment?

The early issues of the Society’s journal provided its subscribers with a strong dose of utilitarianism as the rationale for protecting species. The relationship between a particular species and animals hunted as game by sportsmen played a significant role in the perception of the species in question. Thus, the African wild dog (now one of the focal species of FFI’s work in Mozambique) is described as exercising a wasteful method of hunting, comparing unfavourably with lions and leopards, which “use every precaution to prevent the meat becoming the property of the professional scavengers of the forest.”

African wild dog.

Current conservation practice has moved far beyond this anthropomorphic view: in some cases these ‘professional scavengers’, themselves now threatened with extinction, are the subject of direct conservation initiatives.

Readers of the Society’s journal were also treated to some fairly sensational stories, such as H. Walbeeter’s article from 1904 called ‘In the lion’s jaws’. Mr Walbeeter’s story, in which he fights off a lion using his sheath-knife, is a far cry from the articles published in FFI’s current journal, Oryx—The International Journal of Conservation, although conflict between people and wildlife, particularly carnivores, still features frequently in Oryx’s pages.

Mr Walbeeter recounts his tale.

In 2009, for example, Oryx published a review of human–carnivore conflict between 1979 and 2007, in which the authors state that “the majority of attacks on people occur when they venture into felid habitat,” which is presumably what Mr Walbeeter was doing when he was attacked in 1904.

A subsequent article in the 1904 issue mentions that game regulations brought in at the start of the 20th century were proving successful in protecting elephants in Uganda, but that the elephant population was starting to damage crops – a story that still resonates with conservation practitioners today.

These first issues of the Society’s journal paint a picture of a vanished world, with early member lists for the Society recalling an age of gentlemen’s clubs (Brooks’s Club seems to have been the FFI members’ club of choice, although White’s was also popular).

However, links between modern conservation and that of this bygone age extend beyond Sudan. The spirit of collaboration – first seen in the formation of a group of people determined to protect wildlife in African reserves – still courses through FFI’s arteries.

More broadly still, the continuing emphasis on partnership drives FFI’s conservation work today, enabling the organisation to support effective conservation wherever it works, including in the nascent country of South Sudan.

Part two in this series (1914-1923) will be published at the end of February 2013. To browse through all material relating to FFI’s 110th Anniversary, visit our dedicated page.

]]>http://www.fauna-flora.org/the-chronicles-of-oryx-a-history-of-conservation-1903-1913/feed/0Oysters: the best ambassador of them all?http://www.fauna-flora.org/oysters-the-best-ambassador-of-them-all/
http://www.fauna-flora.org/oysters-the-best-ambassador-of-them-all/#commentsMon, 15 Oct 2012 09:48:28 +0000http://www.fauna-flora.org/?p=3690Tattoos have featured in maritime affairs for many years. Tattooing is considered by some to have reached its zenith in the late 19th century, when90% of British sailors were tattooed. These tattoos were part of a complex iconography understood by the navy, where each drawing carried a message about its human canvas, so that a tattoo of an anchor signified an Atlantic crossing, a dragon meant that person had worked in China, and blue swallow reminded sailors of the first land bird they saw as they approached their home harbours.

So what, in a modern world where tattoos are undergoing a resurgence of popularity, might the oyster stand for?

Native Oyster. Credit: Jai Redman/Ultimate Holding Company.

No less than this: the oyster is the perfect ambassador for humanity’s relationship with the oceans. Not just a water cleanser, a habitat creator, and a food source, but also a living testimony to our on-going exploitation of marine natural resources, as well as how our current activities continue to affect the marine world. Forget colourful coral reefs, charismatic cetaceans, top-order predators: the humble oyster is the ultimate pin-up for oceans and our relationship with them.

Food of the rich?

Our predilection for oysters as a food source is an ancient one: they have been consumed for over 2,000 years, and often in vast quantities. Such was the past abundance of oysters that in the early 19th century they were considered the food of the working classes. A staggering 6 million oysters were landed daily in New York City from oyster beds in New York harbour in the late 19th century. As well as providing nutrition, the oyster trade was a significant industry, providing employment for thousands, with oyster farming forming the mainstay of the economies of many coastal communities.

Once so common as to be considered 'the food of the working classes', today oysters are considered a rare treat thanks to centuries of overexploitation. Credit: Jules Morgan.

Contrast this past abundance with the situation today, just over a century later, where the eating of oysters has become associated with luxury, brought about by dwindling supplies. The decrease in oyster numbers is chiefly a consequence of overharvesting, but also of pollution and disease. In its shift from affordable snack to gourmand’s delicacy, the oyster stands for more than just its own fate. Rather, this tale of unsustainable exploitation epitomises the story of many of the species that share the oyster’s briny home: estimates suggest that, unless we change the way we fish, the stocks of all commercial fish and shellfish will collapse in less than 40 years.

Water filter

Oysters are filter-feeders, removing small particles from the sea water that passes through their bodies. A single oyster can filter up to 5 litres of water every hour, and a bed of millions of oysters thus has a significant effect on its environment. Estimates suggest, for example, that the oysters of Chesapeake Bay, the USA’s largest estuary, filtered all of the Bay’s water every 3–4 days in pre-colonial times, before their numbers started to decline through overharvesting.

Oysters don’t just filter out organic particles, however. The location of oyster beds at the hem of the sea means they often come into contact with artificial particles, and increasingly, these are in the form of microplastics. Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic, not easily visible to the naked eye, which are suspended in the water column. These particles either start life as microplastics that are washed into the sea, or result from the breakdown of larger pieces of plastic in the seas.

One potential source of microplastics are nurdles, the state in which ‘raw’ plastic is transported around the world. Spills from industry are thought to be a major source of nurdle pollution in the oceans, but whatever their origins, nurdles are almost becoming as ubiquitous as sand on the world’s beaches. Although the effects of microplastics on filter feeders such as oysters is not yet fully understood, these waste plastics are known to contain high concentrations of persistent organic pollutants, some of which are known environmental toxins.

Nurdles (plastic in its raw form) are just one source of microplastic pollution in our oceans. Credit Abigail Entwistle.

Whether we’re thinking about microplastics leaching chemicals into the bodies of filter feeders such as oysters, albatrosses mistakenly feeding cigarette lighters and toothbrushes to their chicks, or leatherback turtles swallowing plastic bags as they hunt for their jellyfish prey, the curse of plastic pollution in our oceans is estimated to affect over 250 marine species.

No wonder that nurdles are sometimes known as mermaids’ tears.

Vanishing homes

Like many marine invertebrates, oysters have shells that are made of calcium carbonate, which can dissolve when it comes into contact with acid. Given that the world’s oceans are generally more alkaline than acid this shouldn’t be a problem…except that increased carbon dioxide levels are resulting in seawater becoming increasingly acidic. It is estimated that surface ocean water became 30% more acidic between 1751 and 1994.

Recent evidence seems to suggest that creatures such as oysters will find it increasingly difficult to make their shells under these more acidic conditions. It is not just oysters, but also species such as crustaceans and corals that may struggle to make their shells or skeletons if the oceans continue to become more acidic.

Both oysters and oyster farming may be increasingly threatened by rising ocean acidity. Credit: Eoin Gardiner.

Even the largest species in our oceans may need to adapt: more acidic seawater means that sounds will travel further underwater, affecting species such as whales that communicate using underwater calls.

I have come to realise, through reading and researching about oysters, that my tattoo (of one of the two halves of a native oyster shell) embodies an iconography of concealment. Together with its other half, that shell conceals the soft grey body of a creature that has fed people for centuries and provides clean water for marine habitats.

Oyster beds, lying placidly in shallow, muddy waters, conceal a story: a story of exploitation by people for millennia, people who thought the oyster bounty would never cease. It is a story of how the products we use unquestioningly every day can end up poisoning our oceans. Hopefully, by elevating the native oyster to the status of marine ambassador, it can hold up a mirror to our relationship with the oceans – and understanding this is surely the first step towards changing our behaviour towards the marine world.

Postscript

The ExtInked project was launched in 2009 (the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth) by the Manchester-based arts collective Ultimate Holding Company. Billed as a ‘once in a lifetime social experiment’, 100 volunteers were tattooed during the ExtInked project, each with a different threatened British species, becoming the ambassador for that species in the process. We are ExtInked is a national tour of the ExtInked project, and is currently being shown in the Rugby Museum and Art Gallery until 10 November 2012.